The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act is the first of its kind in the EU. While other European countries, notably Northern Ireland and Great Britain, have for many years incorporated equality duties into their domestic law, the focus of the Irish law lies not only on promoting equal treatment but also on the protection of human rights. The aim of the law is to implement international human rights as well as European law.

In the following, the content of the legal obligations according to Section 42 of the law is described in more detail and it is explained which institutions are obliged by the law.